“There is strong evidence that children are happier, healthier, function better, know more about the environment, and are more likely to take action to protect the natural world when they spend time in nature.” said Dr Chawla.

These findings support the idea that young people should have easy access to wild areas, parks, gardens, green neighborhoods, and naturalised grounds at schools.

Connection not necessarily positive

However, the review also found that a connection with nature is not necessarily always positive.

“My review shows that connecting with nature is a complex experience that can generate troubling emotions as well as happiness.” said Dr Chawla. “We need to keep in mind that children are inheriting an unravelling biosphere, and many of them know it. Research shows that when adolescents react with despair, they are unlikely to take action to address challenges.”

The good news is that there is overlap in the strategies used to increase children’s feelings of connection with nature and supporting them with difficult dimensions of this connection. These strategies include helping young people learn what they can do to protect the natural world, as individuals and working collectively with others, and sharing examples of people who care for nature.

Children need to be heard

Research covered in the review found that young people are more likely to believe a better world is possible when friends, family and teachers listen sympathetically to their fears and give them a safe space to share their emotions.

One of the most surprising findings from the review was the complete disconnect between researchers studying the benefits of childhood connection to nature and those studying responses to environmental threats. “People who study children’s connection with nature and those who study their coping with environmental risk and loss have been pursuing separate directions without referencing or engaging with each other.” said Dr Chawla. “I am arguing that researchers on both sides need to be paying attention to each other’s work and learning from each other”.

Read the full review

The post The importance of childhood connection to natural world appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

As each new day dawns, we must make choices: we can choose to be happy, healthy, helpful and positive that day. Or, we can choose to be dull, depressed, miserable, selfish and negative. As the day advances, we have to make a number of choices.

We can choose what we like! If we make the right choice, we will grow in health, happiness and vitality. If we make the wrong choice, we suffer from disease, loss of energy, loss of vitality, loss of creativity and loss of enthusiasm.

So what will you choose? If you make the right choice, the gift of a long, happy, healthy life is yours to enjoy.

The five choices that will lead you towards a fulfilling life

1. Choose Health

Good health is not something you take for granted. It is a choice you make! Robert Schuller calls good health a journey – rather than a destination. Health is a journey which begins and continues successfully when we travel on the right road, and choose those aspects that will ensure our well-being and enhance our vitality.

2. Choose the Right Foods

We should choose to eat right – and also for all the right reasons. We must choose food not for its texture or taste or its appeal to the palate. We must choose food for its nutritive value and the benefits it will confer on us.

Food should be tasty and pleasant, of course. But that is not its primary purpose. We eat to live – we don’t live to eat. Therefore, we must choose foods that enhance life and vitality.

An ancient story tells us that the God of Food came before the Divine Presence, battered, exhausted, and severely downcast.

“I can’t take it anymore,” he complained. “People abuse me, exploit me. There is no respect for me – no piety or the realisation that I am your prasadam (grace) to men! Everyone indulges in excess. Never has there been such ill-treatment meted out to one of your gifts!”

The Lord smiled and said to him: “Those who abuse you and indulge in excess are destroying themselves.”

All diet-choices have their consequences. Fast foods fill you up – but they will not sustain your health and vitality. Quick-fix food that comes in packets will give you chemicals and additives – but not much by way of nutrition or good taste.

‘Live’ foods – fresh, natural fruits and vegetables – add joy and zest to our lives. ‘Dead’ foods only make your stomach a graveyard for diseased carcasses.

When you choose the right food, you also save yourself a lot of money. Ask yourself what is more expensive – a banana or a packet of fried snacks? A bundle of tomatoes or a bar of chocolate? A meal of salad and soup – or a pizza?

3. Choose a Healthy Environment

It is in our hands to create a healthy mental and physical environment around us.

Let fresh air and light stream into your homes. Do not shut yourself into air-conditioned or centrally heated cages. If you are forced to work in such an environment, take in as much fresh air and sunlight as you can, through daily walks in the open.

Choose a healthy mental environment by dismissing worry, anxiety and negative thoughts out of your life. Choose optimism, positive thoughts, peace and joy.

4. Choose the Right Friends

We all know the old saying: Tell me who your friends are – and I shall tell you what kind of a person you are.

The right people are not the ones who always agree with us; they are not the ones who lead us into bad habits; they are not just people who are ‘fun’ to be with.

The right people are free and frank and are not afraid to pull you up when you go wrong. They are loyal, courageous people who will stand by you even when things go wrong. They are people who give you moral support and instill self-confidence in you! We can and we must make the right choices. God has given us the power and the wisdom to do so. We also have the choice to react positively or negatively to everything that happens to us.

5. Choose God’s Love

Choose to accept God’s love for you. He wants you to live life to the fullest – not merely exist! Accept His infinite love and you will find that power and vitality and positive vibrations flow into you. Begin the day with God. And a good way to begin the day is to affirm several times: I love You, God! I love You, God! I love You, God!

It was an inspired poet who said, “We receive but what we give.” When we offer our love to God, we receive His infinite love in return. When we offer ourselves and our life to Him, He makes our life blessed and beautiful!

The post 5 Choices for Health, Happiness and Vitality As Per Dada Vaswani appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

I didn’t quit cold turkey; it was a gradual transition that started in an Environmental Studies course during my senior year at NYU. A classmate of mine would pull out a plastic bag filled with a plastic box of food, plastic utensils, a plastic bag of chips and a drink—you guessed it—in a plastic bottle. I’d watch her, class after class, throw it all into the garbage and I would get really upset.

One night I was feeling particularly frustrated after watching her and went home to make dinner. I opened my fridge only to realise that every single thing that I had in there was packaged in plastic. Oops!

There I was, an Environmental Studies student, constantly talking about how much I loved sustainability, getting upset at this girl that was plastic-ing everything, and it turned out I was that girl too! I felt like an absolute hypocrite. So I made the decision to quit using plastic.

Parting with plastic didn’t just mean eliminating plastic food packaging from my life; it meant evaluating all of the things that I used that were conventionally packaged in plastic and finding alternatives to them. When I couldn’t find products like toothpaste in plastic-free or recyclable packaging, I started to research recipes to make them myself.

While researching alternatives to my everyday products, I came across a blog called Zero Waste Home that was started by Bea Johnson, a woman with two kids, a husband and zero trash. I was amazed. I thought, if a family of four can live without trash, I can too. So I took a leap and committed to going ‘Zero Waste’.

When I couldn’t find products like toothpaste in plastic-free or recyclable packaging, I started to research recipes to make them myself

How did I do this?

Instead of buying packaged food, I began to shop in bulk. As opposed to buying beauty, cleaning and home products, I had to learn to make them myself. This proved to be a bit of a challenge as I definitely didn’t have a recipe for deodorant hanging about in my back pocket. I had to mess around with over six different deodorant recipes before I found one that worked well for me. In fact, I didn’t have any of the recipes I needed for any of the products I used. But that presented a fun challenge and I began to think about it as a game. Yesterday I transitioned away from toothpaste tubes, today I’m going to learn how to make my own lotion! Every new product that I learned to make was a step towards my Zero Waste goal and it was extremely exciting.

Ultimately I went from a girl that was constantly talking about how much she cared about sustainability, to one that actually lives that way.

Over the past few years I have learned some great ideas that even others can take to lessen their daily trash output.

STEP 1 » Evaluate your trash

When I first started my transition towards becoming Zero Waste, I took a peek into my trash can and understood what was in there. For me, it was predominantly food packaging and food waste and so I thought about ways to eliminate them.

To get rid of food packaging, I began buying my food unpackaged from the farmers market and my local grocery store. Instead of buying, say, baby carrots that came in a plastic bag, I bought whole carrots, which came without any packaging. I also learned to bring jars and cotton bags to buy bulk items like grains and beans.

To eliminate food waste, I began composting. I would take my food scraps, put them in a bowl and place it in my freezer so they did not smell in my fridge. I would then take them to my local compost drop off at the farmers’ market every Saturday.

STEP 2 » The low hanging fruit

This step covers the more superficial but high-impact steps that one can take towards lessening their trash output. What you have to do is:

• Carry reusable bags to the store as opposed to taking plastic or paper bags
• Use a reusable water bottle instead of plastic water bottles
• Bring a mason [jam-sized] jar or reusable mug to the coffee shop as opposed to using a disposable cup
• Say NO to disposable plastic straws at bars, coffee shops, or juice shops and use a metal, glass or bamboo straw
• Pack your own lunch in reusable containers and eat it with real silverware as opposed to disposable plastic forks and spoons.

STEP 3 » Do it yourself

Lots of everyday products come packaged in non-recyclable or difficult-to-recycle packaging. Instead of trying to buy products and figure out if they are being recycled properly, I learned how to make them myself. I started out with something that was simple and easy like toothpaste. I then moved on to products like deodorant, moisturiser and even cleaning products.

Becoming Zero Waste is not something you can do in a day, but decreasing the amount of trash you produce is something that can happen right now with a few simple steps. You might even find that you save money, have more time in your day and feel great!

The post Here’s how you live a trash-free life appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

1. Get rid of the clutter

Most people do not think of clutter as waste but everything that you have in your home that you are not using is going to waste because someone somewhere else could be making better use of it. While it is sitting in your home unused, it may be deteriorating or becoming obsolete. If you haven’t used an item in six months sell it or give it away.

I cleared the clutter out of my garage and my spare room and now I rent out my garage for storage and my spare room to students. Not only do I make money from these activities, I also make the best use of the space available and help to create less need for new hotels and storage units to be built.

2. Swap disposables for reusable items

Buying disposable goods is a massive waste of money and is bad for the environment too. It is easy to make a few simple changes to reduce your dependence on disposable objects. Here are some alterations I made and you can do them too. I swapped:

• Reusable boxes or cloth bags for disposable bags
• Washable cloths or rags for paper kitchen
• Non-stick natural cookware e.g. glass, stoneware or cast iron for foil and baking paper. If food needs to be covered in the oven use an ovenproof dish with a lid
• Damp cloths or damp newspaper/ other waste paper for wet wipes
• Reusable refillable bottles for plastic bottles
• Unpackaged food [or bulk buy] for packaged food and I bring it home in reusable bags. Even meat, cheese and fish can be transported home in reusable containers
• Lastly, I put food items in a box with a lid instead of wrapping them with clingfilm.

3. Don’t waste food

A lot of time, energy and resources go into producing and transporting the food we eat, yet many of us throw leftovers away, not an Eco-friendly practice. Food in landfill gives off methane—a greenhouse gas, and it seems terrible to throw food away when there are people going hungry in the world.

• Only buy the food you need—don’t be tempted by special offers
• Weigh or count out portions of rice, pasta, vegetables and so on, so that you only make what you will eat in that day
• Freeze leftover cooked fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, bread and dairy products to consume at a later date. Only freeze cooked food once, do not refreeze again or the food will spoil
• Instead of throwing out fruits and vegetables that might be nearing their expiry date or just a few days past their best, cook them and turn into soups, smoothies, cakes, ice cream, sorbets, sauces or juices
• Give away any excess food you can’t or won’t use to friends, family, neighbours or those in need.

4. Make use of your waste

Try to avoid bringing stuff into your home that will soon end up in the bin; if you do find it unavoidable occasionally, try to make use of it by up-cycling it.

• Before throwing something in the bin, try to mend it first
• Glass jars make attractive plant pots—line the bottom with stones or you can even use pieces of cracked pots for drainage. Glass jars are also handy for storage
• Envelopes can be reused or turned into notepads. Cut them up into rectangles, punch holes through the top and thread through some string to bind the pieces together
• Brown paper packaging makes great wrapping paper
• With old clothes, sheets and other fabrics you could:
• Cut the sheets and towels into squares and use as cleaning cloths
• Tear towels into strips and make into foot-rugs
• Use as fabric for new projects—e.g. make a reusable shopping bag, cut jeans into shorts
• Or you could even wrap gifts with them.

5. Recycle whatever is left

Have a set of recycling bins and sort your rubbish into them e.g. glass, cans, paper, metal, fabric and plastics. We often stop thinking about our trash once we are done separating it but make an effort to find out what is being done with your waste. What is the use of separating your garbage if it is going into a dump? If you find that your garbage is not being recycled by the agency that collects it, take it to a different area where there is a recycling facility. There are paper marts or scrap dealers that pay you for used paper and plastic.

6. Invest in some compost bins

Station small compost bins in both your kitchen and your bathroom. If you have a food waste collection then follow the instructions given on what type of foods you can put in it. If you have a garden, then invest in a compost bin where you can put all types of foods in.

In your bathroom compost bin you can collect hair, nail cuttings, tissues, toilet paper rolls, cotton wool and wooden toothpicks.

7. Ditch the toxic antibacterial cleaning products

It is important to keep your home clean, but antibacterial products kill all bacteria, good and bad, plus many contain toxic chemicals. We need the good bacteria to be healthy. There is usually no need to use antibacterial products on surfaces unless you have been chopping raw meat on your kitchen counter or someone in your household has an infectious disease. If you do cook meat at home, use a wooden chopping board that you can wash rather than disinfecting the whole area. For the occasions when you do want an antibacterial cleaner, switch to natural substances like bicarbonate of soda, lemon juice or vinegar.

8. Switch it off!

We all know that if your lights or electrical appliances are not in use, then switch them off. But my suggestion to make things easier is to plug a number of items into a multi plug extension lead e.g. a TV, DVD player and cable box, which you can switch off all together when you are done.

If you have solar panels or access to another form of renewable energy, use appliances at the right time e.g. when the sun is shining or when the wind is blowing.

Consider using intelligent systems that can work out exactly when to turn lights, heating, air conditioning and watering systems on or off, based on your whereabouts or on the temperature or humidity that day for example and which can be controlled remotely.

9. Turn off the tap

Keep water usage to a minimum by doing the following, if possible:

• Collect rainwater in water butts to water plants
• It is preferable to fill a bucket with your bath water so that you use a limited amount of water
• When running a tap or shower put a bucket underneath to collect any spare water and use the waste water to flush the toilet or water plants
• When cleaning your teeth, put a small amount of water in a cup and use only that water to clean your teeth
• See if you can wear clothes [like pants or night clothes] a few times before washing them
• Before you start to cook, measure the water needed to cook and wash the food into the kettle and only use what you need
• Fill a reusable container with your daily amount of drinking water, this will give you an idea of how much you consume.

10. Grow your own

We don’t realise the carbon footprint that buying food creates. If you grow food yourself, it doesn’t have to travel long distances and can be grown without pesticides and fertilisers. Herbs and spices, fruit and flowers are an easy place to start and most come up year after year with little effort on your part. If space is a constraint, try and walk to the market instead of going by vehicle. This reduces the carbon footprint and every little bit helps.

• You can gift homemade flower displays from flowers you have grown—even weeds can make pretty displays!
• Herbs and spices have many uses—they make great herbal teas, herbal baths, have medicinal uses and add flavour to meals.

This was first published in the May 2015 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

The post 10 ways to make your home eco-friendly appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Here are a few environmentally-friendly strategies to keep in mind when you decide to make your home eco-friendly:

Building material

Modern building materials like steel, glass or cement are manufactured by using ‘high embodied energy’. These materials may cost less, but consume a great amount of fuel during manufacturing. Houses built using contemporary materials consume large amounts of energy during their production and also for their maintenance. They absorb a lot of heat, making the house hot and uncomfortable. To cool the area down, you have to keep an air-conditioner or a fan on continuously, leading to a high electricity bill. Such architecture proves to be expensive in the long run. So wherever you can, try to use stones, bricks or wood for the walls. They are eco-friendly and have a charm of their own.

“Bricks to me are like faces” said the great architect Laurie Baker. “All of them are made of burnt mud, but they vary slightly in shape and colour. I think these small variations give tremendous character to a wall made of thousands of bricks, so I never dream of covering such a unique and distinctive creation with plaster, which is mainly dull and characterless. I like the contrast of textures of brick, of stone, of concrete, of wood.”

Energy

Though expensive to install, a solar panel is a must-have in any eco-friendly home because it harnesses and effectively utilises natural energy. Whenever you can, opt for renewable sources of energy.

Lighting

Houses should be oriented in the direction that yields the highest amount of sunlight and breeze. Design your windows such that you can make the maximum use of natural light. This leads to enormous energy and cost savings. You can also reduce your consumption of electricity by using energy-efficient lighting like LED lamps and power-saving home appliances; these lamps also last longer. Avoid CFL bulbs as they contain mercury, which is a dangerous heavy metal; hence pay attention to how you dispose of those bulbs.

Waste management

How you want to manage your solid waste should be planned before the construction of your home starts. Water needs to be harnessed through conservation, harvesting and recycling. A lot of water can be conserved by integrating paving areas to manage the storm-water runoffs and to harvest the rain water. Underground tanks can also be built for harvesting rainwater, which could lessen water shortage during summers, reclaiming this water through the selective membrane process will make you self-sufficient.

Flooring

Tiled floors using materials like terracota, clay, laminate, wood, athangudi is the usual preference. However, there are other new additions to flooring options. Linoleum sheets produced from linseed oil, wood-flour and cork are durable, fire-retardant and water-resistant. These sheets are pressed onto the sub-floor [usually tiles]. The joints are then welded, to make them dirt-free and peel-proof. Linoleum being naturally anti-bacterial and biodegradable makes it one of the best choices for creating an eco-friendly floor.

Bamboo is another sustainable material currently being used for flooring. Bamboo shoots are pressed to fabricate sections and when installed they resemble hardwood flooring. These floors can be maintained by vacuuming and wet mopping.

Carpeted floors are cosy and they provide thermal insulation during winters. Carpets are available in synthetic and natural fibres. Synthetic fibres like rayon, nylon, polyester etc. are usually preferred, since they are affordable, long lasting and recyclable. Natural fibres such as jute, coir, wool, hemp are usually tufted to form carpets; they ensure a healthy indoor environment by using safe and recyclable materials and low Volatile Organic Compounds [VOC] adhesive.

Poly Lactic Acid [PLA] fibres spun from polymers obtained from starch-based agricultural products such as corn, rice and sugar beet are environment friendly and decompose into lactic acid, which replenishes the soil when buried. They are made by a process that uses less fuel and consumes less water.

Roofs

Eco-friendly ceilings can vary from filler slabs to Mangalore-tiled roofs, mud-packed roofs, thatched roofs or brick domes. Lightweight and inexpensive materials such as low-grade Mangalore tiles, coconut shells, glass bottles, etc. are used as materials in filler slabs. This roofing costs 30 – 35 per cent less than conventional concrete roofing, which helps you save a considerable amount. This has a cooling effect and has no health hazards as opposed to galvanised iron sheets and asbestos cement sheet roofs, which dissipate too much heat and are known to increase the risk of diseases such as lung cancer. Recycled shingles are among the most popular—and perhaps the ‘greenest’—of all roofing products. They are made from recycled waste materials like plastic, rubber or wood fibre.

You can manage the microclimate too through appropriate landscaping. This includes the setting up of a rooftop garden and, if space is not a constraint, you can even create a vegetable garden in the front or back of your house.

Doors and windows

Doors that are made from recycled or old wood could be used if it suits the design style of your home. All wooden items can be polished using cashew nut oil. Terracotta jaalis and cement jaalis can also be used in place of windows, which allow more ventilation. Staircases could also be made using old wood.

Make your doors and windows from glasses that are designed to reflect heat and give the room insulation. These will keep the rooms warm during cold winters and will reflect unwanted heat during summers. This not only sets the right ambience, but also fills the interiors with natural light. In the long term, this will also save you a lot of money that you would have otherwise spent on heating or cooling the rooms.

Finishes

Paints are mandatory in most homes, but are also a major cause of indoor air pollution. Many paints contain VOCs, which are hazardous to health. Some of these compounds react with the nitrogen-oxide in the air in the presence of sunlight, forming a chemical compound, which causes respiratory problems. Paints that have low VOC content use water as a carrier and contain very little or no metal and formaldehyde. Paints are safest if made from natural ingredients such as water, clay, plant dyes, oils, resins, clay, calcium, chalk, talcum, beeswax and natural latex.

Furniture, textiles and décor items

Furniture can always be recycled and reused. Old wood can be used to make new contemporary furniture or you can simply buy antique furniture for your home. Tyres are recycled to make furniture, photo frames and a variety of other products. Many NGOs  sell home furnishings made from recycled material.

Recycled news paper can be used to make curtains, waste paper baskets, breadbaskets and bowls.

The versatile bamboo is used for making a wide range of products like furniture, jewellery, mats, coasters, trays, beads, runners and chataais. Natural fibre grasses are also used to make varying décor items and furniture. Eco-friendly textiles like khadi, mulul, cotton, blockprints, ikat etc. are available to make your upholstery. Each region in India has a unique textile and you can explore them according to your interests.

Once you have decided to take the road to building your eco-friendly home, you will love the feeling of having done your bit for the planet.

This was first published in the October 2014 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

The post Going Green: Your guide to creating an eco-friendly home appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.